GT, oho, they are introducing the vehicle only to CA market. Any idea, when they are planning to introduce to other US markets. I think, they are introducing only a limited edition to CA for a market review or to collect user feedbacks.

The value and success will depend on the price. If it was priced commensurate with a no-frills economy car, then it might have a chance. As a $40K or whatever showroom ornament and enviro-weenie status symbol, it's DOA.

If it's like any other BEV out there today, the CEO is only half lying. It's a compliance car *and* it will never turn a profit.

First, I'm not buying your comments and the contrarian view today would be one arguing in favor of electric given the environmental ignorance being perpetrated on the public by big financial interests. Even if you deny climate change effects, when you flush your toilet the waste doesn't go into the river. It's processed. The same should be true with regard to what we do with the air. It's part of the commons and unless you manufacture your own, conserving the quality is a TRUE conservative position!

Second, the bottom line is one of matching the application coupled with high volume production. You match the car to your need and high volume production will reduce the price. It's simple and has been demonstrated ad nauseum!

GT, I think you've pegged it. At least for now, the 500e appears to be a compliance car. It is also most likely a learning excercise. A necessary, but unprofitable step on the road to the future. I doubt they expect to sell more than a handful of cars. Perhaps a totally new EV design is in the works at Fiat.

If the Chrysler chief's statement "It's an electric vehicle that doesn't act like an electric appliance" is true, how come the controls look like those of a blender?

"retro-futuristic design"? Does a picture of George Jetson come standard, or is that an option? Holy cow.

My son just came from the LA auto show yesterday with camera pics of cars like a stunning new Lexus electric and the sexy BMW i8 hybrid. And Chrysler introduces this? I'm underwhelmed. I've seen cuter zits on a hog. The Fiat 500 itself looks like someone did a poor job of photoshopping the BMW Mini. Then they brag about time in a wind tunnel... What direction did the wind blow, I wonder?

Unless the car's price tag is going to be somewhere around free, I'll pass. We've already got an electric skateboard.

Nobody seems to get the point that if this is "a learning exercise" for Chrysler engineers, then how many potential customers will pay good money to become a guinea pig or lab rat? I vividly remember the "second generation" Fiat 500 Nuovo from the late '50s. A truly wretched tiny car (actually an enclosed motorcycle, 2-seater with 1.5 HP 2-cylinder air-cooled engine complete with a cable clutch). Topped out at 59mph with a strong tailwind and a 100 lb. driver!

I knew a guy who collected Ford Edsel wrecks. I used to be fond of Corvairs. What does that tell you about "taste"? Beautiful sophisticated women may not have a problem with cars that rust out in 2-3 years, like my old Fiat Spring (something like an 850cc motor as I recall) that looked cute, rather like a mini-MG, but couldn't get up a steep hill from a dead stop, and at 3 years old had a rusted-out floorboard. But I don't let supermodels pick out my cars- they don't have to fix them. History will, as always, judge, but Fiat does not seem to have an especially good track record in this country.

Some cars are more reliable than others, but even the vehicles at the bottom of this year’s Consumer Reports reliability survey are vastly better than those of 20 years ago in the key areas of powertrain and hardware, experts said this week.

As it does every year, Consumers Union recently surveyed its members on the reliability of their vehicles. This year, it collected data on approximately 1.1 million cars and trucks, categorizing the members’ likes and dislikes, not only of their vehicles, but of the vehicle sub-systems, as well.

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

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